Godfrey Itama Oboabona (born 16 August 1990) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for Georgian club

FC Dinamo Batumi FC Dinamo Batumi is a Georgian football club based in Batumi, Adjara, and current vice-champion of Erovnuli Liga, the top division of Georgian football system. The club has won the league (2021), the Georgian Cup ( 1997-98) and Super Cup (1 ...

as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Oboabona was born in

Ondo City Ondo Town is the second largest town in Ondo State, Nigeria. Ondo Town is the trade center for the surrounding region. Yams, cassava, grain and tobacco are grown. Cotton is also grown, and is used to weave cloth called Aso Oke fabric which is w ...

, and began his professional career with local club Sunshine Stars In August 2013, the BBC claimed there was speculation linking him with a move to English side

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, a claim denied by both Oboabona and Sunshine Stars chairman Mike Odoko. Later that month, he signed a four-year contract with Turkish club

Çaykur Rizespor Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Rize. The club play in the TFF First League. The club was founded on May 19, 1953, with green-yellow as club colours, but later changed to blue-green. Since 1990, the team ...

. He described the transfer as a "dream move." In September 2018, Oboabona joined

HNK Gorica Hrvatski nogometni klub Gorica ( en, Croatian Football Club Gorica), commonly referred to as HNK Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Croatian football club based in the town of Velika Gorica, located just south of the Croatian capital Zagreb. They pl ...

in the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

. In February 2020 he signed for Georgian club

International career

Oboabona made his international debut for

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in 2012, and has appeared in

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifying matches. He was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

. He was selected for Nigeria's squad at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

, and was named in the provisional squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. Oboabona was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oboabona, Godfrey 1990 births Living people Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Sunshine Stars F.C. players Çaykur Rizespor footballers 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Association football defenders Expatriate footballers in Turkey Africa Cup of Nations-winning players People from Akure Al-Ahli Saudi FC players HNK Gorica players Saudi Professional League players Croatian Football League players FC Dinamo Batumi players Erovnuli Liga players Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Croatia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Georgia (country) Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country)